That is, if a “free market” just means a system in which free individuals are able to associate and contract with one another without outside interference, protected in their legitimate private property rights, then the system obtaining in the world today is a very far cry from a free market — the whole system is a deviation.

Perhaps, then, the phenomenon of historical capitalism does not deserve the benefit of the doubt from libertarian champions of free markets; and if it doesn’t, then maybe the consistent defenders of open competition, private property, and individual sovereignty actually belong with the radical left, committed to challenging the present economic system and vindicating the rights of the poor and underprivileged.